Rodgers Stopped Suárez, Can He Get More Out Of Him?

Now that the conclusion of the transfer window (plus some idiocy by someone at Anfield) has left Liverpool with only two recognised senior strikers, it is of paramount importance that Brendan Rodgers is able to maximise their goalscoring potential.

As one of them (Fabio Borini) is largely unproven at the highest level, the bulk of the burden will fall upon the shoulders of Luis Suárez. I noted in a previous article that two of his five league appearances last season where he failed to create a single chance for a team-mate came against Swansea City, so it seems that the new Liverpool manager certainly knows how to nullify Suárez; can he make the most of him?

I have reviewed Suárez’ stats against Swansea, and they do show that his performances were below average for the season as a whole. In fairness to the Uruguayan hitman, the whole Liverpool team did not put in their best performances against the Jacks last season, so I have also included the team’s stats to give some context to how Suárez fared against the south Wales outfit. Firstly, a look at the passing figures:

Whilst the frequency of passes attempted (17%) and completed (15%) was a fair bit lower for Liverpool against Swansea than against other teams on average, for Suárez individually it was even worse; 24% longer to attempt a pass and 33% longer to complete one.

That his passing accuracy decreased during this matches whilst the team’s figure increased slightly against the average emphasises further that the Uruguayan was a more peripheral figure during the tussles with the Swans.

His better figure from the two games came at Anfield (unsurprisingly) where he completed 72% of his passes, yet in only six of his twenty-nine ‘non-Swansea’ appearances was his passing accuracy worse, and his performance at the Liberty Stadium only bettered that seen in three other matches.

If you look at the final third passing statistics, for this is the area of the pitch where Suárez is expected to earn his corn, the difference is even more alarming:

Suárez’ seventh (home) and second (away) worst final third passing accuracy performances in the 2011/12 Premier League came against the Swans of South Wales, and the joint figures were significantly below his seasonal average, whilst the whole team were fractionally more accurate.

As he attempted a final third pass 38% less regularly, but any pass only 24% less often, this suggests that Swansea were able to force Suárez further away from goal where he could cause them less damage.

For the Uruguayan to be involved that much less, had Rodgers figured out a way to isolate him, or cut off the supply line perhaps? The possession stats provide more evidence that the Reds’ top scorer was more peripheral than usual against the Jacks, and was more careless with the ball too:

Despite touching the ball 14% less frequently than usual, Suárez actually gave the ball away slightly more often than average against Swansea. Due to Rodgers’ fondness for pressing football and hunting in packs, I suspect that Suárez was given less time on the ball than perhaps he received against other sides. As you’d expect, by seeing less of the ball, Liverpool’s number seven fired shots on goal less regularly too:

Despite scoring more goals and having more shots than any other Liverpool player in 2011/12, Suárez was not able to make much of an impression in 180 minutes against Swansea. As the team’s shooting stats overall were more consistent, then some of Suárez’ colleagues must have stepped up their own performances in front of goal to compensate for the Uruguayan’s below par efforts.

But the above statistics suggest that Brendan Rodgers was able to set up his side and deploy his players accordingly in order to neutralise the attacking threat posed by Liverpool’s top striker. In order to do this, he must have been able to identify the player’s strengths (or his strengths within Dalglish’s system, at least), and so he must now figure out how to exploit them to his advantage.

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2 thoughts on “Rodgers Stopped Suárez, Can He Get More Out Of Him?”

I was also of the opinion that Suarez wide and Borini as the central striker would be the best combination. But hearing Rodgers talk about the issue during the recent interview with Liverpool fan media, I’m not sure.

Rodgers seemed convinced that the main problem with Suarez’s game in the team was his *isolation*. Playing Suarez wide would, according to BR, leave him equally, if not more, isolated (unless the fullback pushes up right near him).

What Rodgers said explicitly was that Suarez needs players buzzing around him to play off of. This seems a compelling explanation. Witness the number of times he is able to create a chance for himself but is unable to finish.

One interpretation could be that, if Suarez develops a partnership with players to either side and behind him (e.g. Borini, Assaidi/Sterling, Gerrard/Shelvey), then he may be able to exchange quick 1-2s and therefore not expect himself to create chances solo.

This would also limit the ability of a side such as Rodgers’ Swansea to press Suarez into making pass errors and losing the ball.

So maybe the problem is not one of Suarez wide or central, but rather of Suarez near or far. Pushing the midfield higher and the fullbacks up – possible only with more patient play – will help resolve this.